Locking device for umbrellas and the like.



W; L. SPERRING & G. RQPRIDE. LOCKING DEVICE POR UMBRELLASAAND THE LIKE.

APLIOATION FILED JN. 6, 1909.

934,228. Patented sepn14y199;

GJ il I' i pended claims.

muren sTATns PATENT onricn.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR UMBRELLAS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted Spt, 134, 1999, Applicationfiled January 6, 1909. Serial N o. 470,964.

the handle a spring latch piece 6 is secured in the stick, said latchpiece having a latch head 6a thereon which is of usual forni andnormally projects outward through a slot a formed in the wall of thestick. On the stick 5, a runner sleeve 7 is slidably mounted, havingordinary forni, and upon the upper end of said sleeve a plurality ofstretcher rods 8 are jointed at their lower ends, as shown at Z). Saidrods that in use serve as prop braces for the ribs and cover of theumbrella, are folded down closely to the stick 5 when the umbrella incomplete form stick of the umbrella, said means embodying is in closedadjiistnient,tliis condition of a locking slide bar and a permutationlock I the Stretcher rods appearing in Fig. l. As mounted on the stick,comprising a plurality l Usual, When the SGGVQ 7 and StretChGr IOdS S ofcup-shaped rings having indicating charare lowered on the stick 5, thelatch head 62l acters thereon, said rings by adjustment conprojects.through a slot a 11i the sleeve and trolling the sliding movement ofthe slide .engages lts lower end Wlth the louerend-of bar for locking rreleasing the runner said slot a', thus locking the sleeve in lowsleeve.ered condition until the latch head is de- The invention consists in thenovel con- Pressed S0 that th@ SleeVG may he Shd UP- struction andcombination of parts, as are Ward OVSI the latch headliereinafterdescribed and defined in the ap- UPOn the SCk 5, adjacent .t0 the handlea, a cylindrical collar 9 is slidably placed,

having a radial flange 9a formed or secured on its lower end, the edgeof which is milled and projects laterally slightly beyond the upper endof the handle piece 5a. A perni utation ring l() is mounted loosely uponthev stick 5, said ring having an inwardly extended annular wall 10a,the inner circular edge of which loosely engages the stick. The annularwall 10a is flat and is disposed a distance below the upper edge of thering, an annular recess c being produced above said wall 10a. A radialbead d is formed on the exterior of the permutation ring l0, the edge ofwhich is milled or otherwise roughened, and below the said ring isarranged a spring casing 10b, the interior diameter of which looselyreceives the collar 9, the said casing being secured to the stick by apin 10. A coil spring 11 is arranged within the spring casing, betweenthe upper end thereof and the upper end of the collar 9. Above thepermutation ring l0, a second permutation ring l2 is placed on the stick5, the forni of which is similar to the upper portion of said ring l0.Specifically described, the ring l2 comprises a circular wall equal indiameter with that of the cylindrical upper portion of the permutationring 10, and having an interiorly trending fiat wall l2a formed thereonat its lower edge, producing a recess c above it, said wall l2a having aTo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM Lnoimin)v SPERRING and GUY REED PRIDE, bothcitizens of the United States, and residents of J ackl. sonville, in thecounty of Duval and State j of Florida, have invented a new and inprovedLocking Device for Umbrellas and the Like, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of this invention is to provide novel means for locking therunner sleeve and attached stretcher rods of an umbrella or parasol inclosed adjustment on the Reference is to be had to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specificaltion, in which similarcharacters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a broken and partly sectional side view of the lower portionof an umbrella stick, a runner sleeve and stretcher rods in loweredadjustment on the stick, a spring latch carried by the stick andengaging within a slot in the runner sleeve, a slide bar. longitudinallyadjustable in the stick for locking or releasing the spring latch, and apermutation lock carried by the stick and adapted by its adjustment forcontrol of the slide bar; Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectionalview of an umbrella stick, and a partly sectional side view of detailsof the improved locking device mounted on said stick; and Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view, substantially on the line 3 3 in Fig. l. Thestick 5 of the umbrella, partially shown to illustrate the invention andits application, is tubular and cylindrical, having in complete form asuiiicient length for receiving the ribs and covering therefor as usual,these latter-named parts that are not necessary for the disclosure ofthe invention, being omitted from the drawings. Upon the stick a handle5a is secured at the lower end thereof, and at a suitable point abovecentral circular opening therein of such diameter as' permits theslidable insertion of the stick 5 therethrough and, as shown, the ring12 is seated upon the ring 10. A third permutation ring 13, similar tothe ring 12, in every respect, is loosely mounted upon the stick 5, thefiat inwardly extended bottom wall 13a of the permutation ring 13seating on the upper edge of the ring 12, as shown in Fig. 2the wall 13adefining the depth of a recess c2 in the ring 13. The permutation rings12 and 13, have circumferential beads and g respectively formed thereon,and these beads areL milled similarly to the bead d, to facilitate therotation of the rings upon which they are formed.

Onl the stick 5, a washer plate 14 is fitted and disposed in loosecontact with theupper edge of the upper permutation ring 13. A. collar15 is mounted upon the stick 5 and seated upon the washer plate 14, thecollar being secured in' place by a cross pin 71, or other means, thusloosely mounting` the permutation rings 10, 12, and 13 in place on thestick 5 between the top of the spring casing 10"` and the washer-plate14 to allow individual rotation of either permutation ring` 10, 12 or13;

Upon each ring 10, 12, 13, a plurality of indices are formed or secured,which may be either a series of numerals or of alphabetical characters,the latter being shown spaced apart thereon in Fig. 1. In each of thebottom walls 10, 12a and 13l of the respective permutation rings 10,12,- 13, a radial slot z'V is formed, said slots being equal in widthand length, and in the stick 5, within the permutation rings, a singleelongated slot m is cut, having an equal width with that ofv the slotse' that may be disposed opposite said slot m.

A locking bar 16 is a completing detail of the improvement, and asclearly shown in Fig. 2, consists of a fiat strip of metal fittedloosely in the lower portion of the stick 5, and having three similarflat tongues n formed on one side edge thereof, which project throughthe slot m into the respective radial slots t', wherein said tongues arenormally positioned. The locking bar 16 is laterally lextended at ornear the lower end thereof, so as to have contact with the inner surfaceof the collar 9, whereon it is secured by means ,of a screw 0, as isshown in Fig. 2. The length of the locking bar 16, is proportioned so asto dispose the upper end port-ion of said bar below and near to theinner lower corner y? of the latch head 6a, when the locking device isnot in use for retaining the umbrella closed. There is a rounded corner11 formed on the upper end ofthe locking bar 16, which will engage withthe corner p of the latch head 6a if the locking bar is moved upward ashort distance, and this will prevent a depression of the latch head 6a.In

ordinary use, the spring 11 will by its ten` sion press the collar 9 andthe attached locking bar 16 down until the lower end of the collar seatsupon the handle 5, which will dispose the tongues n in the radial slotsz', as is represented in Fio. 2.

When it is desired to lock the umbrella in close folded condition,assuming that the Vrunner' sleeve 7 is slid downward, so that the latchhead 6a engages the slot a in the runner sleeve, the collar 9 is slidaway from the handle 5EL by manipulation of the radial flange 9a, thuscompressing the coiled spring 11 and imparting an upward slidingmovement to the locking bar 16 thus disposing the tongues n in theannular recesses c, c', c2 iii the permutation rings 10, 12, 13, abovethe radial slots c' they normally occupy. The rings are now adjusted byturning them, so as to produce a selected combination of letters thatmay be word orany other associ ation of the letters on the rings, whichwill Y dispose the tongues@ on the end walls of the rings 10, 12, 13,away from the slots t'. upward movementV of the locking bar 16, due tothe upward sliding movement of the collar 9, will enforce a lockingengagement of the corner 1" with the corner y; on the latch head 6a,which will prevent a release of the runner sleeve 7 from the latch headand obviously secure the umbrella in folded condition. To the owner ofthe umbrella, who has set the combination of characters on thepermutation rings, it will be the work of but few seconds `to turn therings, so as to aline the radial slots z' with each other, and Vthusdispose them opposite the tongues a, which will adapt the tension of thespring 11 for effecting a downward sliding movement ofthe collar 9 intoits normal position, and a retraction of the upper end of the lockingbar 16 from the latch head 6, so that the umbrella may be raised andlowered as usual.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent: l

1. In an umbrella lock of the character described, the combination of astick, a locking bar slidable within the stick and having spaced tongueson one edge, a collar slidable on the lower end of the said stick and secured to the lower end of the said locking bar, a spring casing securedto the said stick,

a spring in the said casing and pressing the said collar, a series ofsuperimposed permutation rings mounted to turn loosely on the saidstick, each .permutation ring having an annular recess in its upper endand having The Y a radial slot in its bottom for engagement j by thesaid tongues of the locking bar.

2. In an umbrella lock of the character described, the combination witha stick, of a locking bar slidable within the stick and provided on oneedge with spaced tongues,

the lower end of the said locking bar being provided with a shiftingcollar mounted to slide exteriorly on the said stick, permutation ringsin superimposed relation, a recess being provided between the adjacentrings for receiving the tongues, each of the said rings having-a slotfor permitting the passage of a corresponding tongue when said rings arein a predetermined position, a collar fixed on the stick, a springcasing fixed on the stick, the said permutation rings being disposedbetween the said fixed collar and the said spring casing, and a springinterposed between the said spring casing and the said collar onthelocking bar. v

3. In an umbrella lock of the character described, the combination of astick, a locking bar slidable within the stick and provided with spacedtongues on one edge, and a shifting collar on its lower end, permutationrings provided with means engaging the tongues for locking the barbetween the rings, and a spring pressing the said shifting collar.

4L. In an umbrella lock of the character described, the combination of astick, a runner, a spring latch for locking the runner against movementon the stick, a manuallycontrolled shiftable locking bar within the saidstick and adapted to engage and lock the said spring latch, the saidlocking bar having spaced tongues on one edge, and

lsuperimposed permutation rings mounted to turn loosely on the saidstick and each having means for engaging the said tongues for lockingthe bar in locking position.

5. In an umbrella lock of the character described, the combination of astick, a runner, a spring latch for locking the runner against movementon the stick, a manuallycontrolled shiftable locking bar within the saidstick and adapted to engage and lock the said spring latch, the saidlocking bar having special tongues on one edge, superimposed permutationrings mounted to turn loosely on the said stick and each having meansfor engaging the said tongues for locking the bar in locking position,and a spring pressing the said locking bar to move the latter intounlocking position on release of the said permutation rings.

In testimon whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM LEONARD SPERRING. GUY REED IRIDE.

vWitnesses M. E. I-IiNns, Jr., F. H. FARWELL.

